SaaS and software marketing
How software
buyers choose.
Australian businesses choose software by reading what other users say, then testing whether the product survives contact with their own data. In Capterra's survey of 281 Australian buyers, the most used sources among those whose purchase went well were user reviews (51%) and review and comparison sites (49%). Nearly half had been burned: 47% regret at least one software purchase. The SaaS companies that win answer the hard questions, migration, setup time and total cost, before the trial starts.
Written by Dan Picken, a marketer who checks the sources. Last checked 6 November 2026.Where buyers
look first.
Capterra asked 281 Australian businesses involved in buying software where they did their research. Among the buyers whose purchase worked out, 51% used user reviews, 49% used software review and comparison sites, and 41% asked industry experts. Generative AI tools such as ChatGPT and Google's AI Overviews made the top five sources too.
Notice what isn't at the top: the vendor's own website. That doesn't make your site irrelevant. It means your site is where people go to check what they've already heard. If a review says setup took a month, the buyer comes to your site looking for proof that it won't for them.
For a café owner in Newcastle choosing a rostering app, that might mean three G2 reviews from other hospitality businesses and a question in a local business Facebook group. For a 40-person accounting practice in Parramatta choosing practice management software, it might be a partner asking two other firms and an IT contractor reading the security page. Different paths, same habit: they trust other users first.
Why purchases
go wrong.
The regret numbers are worth sitting with. 47% of Australian buyers regret one or more software purchases, only 30% had no disruption or regret, and 92% of those with regrets also had trouble with the rollout. A year earlier, Capterra's 2024 survey put the share of Australian decision-makers with regrets at 71%, against a 59% global average. The surveys differ, so don't read the drop as a trend, but both say the same thing: Australian buyers have been burned, and they remember.
The causes are mostly about the switch, not the software. Among disappointed buyers, these were the sources of disruption:
| Cause of disruption | Disappointed buyers | What your marketing can answer |
|---|---|---|
| Data migration problems | 41% | How data comes in, what imports, who helps |
| Delays | 40% | A realistic setup time for a business their size |
| Budget overrun | 36% | The full cost for their team, add-ons included |
| Integration issues | 34% | What each integration actually syncs |
| Inadequate user training | 33% | What onboarding looks like, in Australian hours |
| Security or compliance issues | 33% | Where data is stored, in plain words |
Check your
pre-signup pages.
Every one of those causes is a question a buyer can't easily ask before they sign up. If your site answers them, you take risk off the table before the trial starts. If it doesn't, the buyer either asks sales, asks a review site, or picks the vendor who did answer.
Buyer regret check
Does your site answer
what goes wrong?
Tick what a buyer could find on your website before starting a trial or booking a demo, without asking sales. Each item is weighted by how often it caused trouble for Australian software buyers in Capterra's survey.
Covered
0%
Fix first
Weighted by the share of disappointed Australian buyers who hit each problem (Capterra, 2025 fieldwork). A guide to what to publish, not a prediction of sales.
Trial, demo
or free plan?
Which door you offer changes who walks through it. There's no single right answer, and the honest test is simple: can a typical buyer get one real result on their own, in their first few sessions? If yes, let them try it. If no, a guided start will usually convert better than a trial they abandon.
Plenty of companies run two doors: a self-serve trial for small teams, and a demo for larger ones. That works, as long as the pricing page makes clear which door is for whom.
| Model | Usually suits | Watch for |
|---|---|---|
| Free trial (time-limited) | Products a small team can set up alone, like scheduling, invoicing or forms | Trials that end before the buyer has imported real data |
| Free plan (freemium) | Products that get more useful as more people use them | A 'free' plan that isn't really usable. The ACCC has acted on that |
| Demo first | Products that need data migration, integrations or sign-off from several people | A demo form that asks for a phone number before anyone has seen a price |
| Paid pilot | Larger rollouts where the buyer needs proof inside their own business | Pilots with no agreed measure of success |
Fast decisions
go better.
Capterra found that successful buyers typically finish choosing within three months, and searches of three months or less were more likely to succeed than those dragging past four. Long evaluations aren't careful evaluations. They're usually stuck ones.
So make the decision easier to finish. Match the trial length to how long setup really takes. Offer a sample data set so the buyer can see the product working before their own data is in. And give them a one-page summary they can forward: what it does, what it costs for their team, how long setup takes, how to leave.
The person
who has to sell it.
The person in your trial usually isn't the only one deciding. Among disappointed buyers, 44% said they would improve communication with other stakeholders next time. In plain terms, they bought without bringing finance, IT or the people who'd actually use it along with them.
That's a marketing job. Give your champion what they need to win the internal argument: a security page IT can read, a cost example finance can check, and a plain explanation of what changes for the team. The buyer who can answer their boss's questions in one email is the buyer who gets a yes.
Reviews where
buyers read them.
Reviews are where Australian buyers start, so treat review profiles like a second home page. TrustRadius found 77% of technology buyers read user reviews during a purchase. Claim your profiles, update the screenshots and prices, and ask for reviews at a moment of real success, like the first month-end close or the first full roster, not on day one.
Ask everyone, not just the happy ones. The ACCC's guidance on online reviews is clear that writing your own reviews, paying for positive ones or hiding negative ones can mislead. A profile with a few honest three-star reviews and good replies reads as real. A wall of five stars reads as managed.
What I see most often
What I'd check first
on a buyer's path.
- 1
Nothing about migration
Sites that list features and integrations but never say how a business moves its existing data across, or who helps.
- 2
Prices only per user
Pricing pages with a per-user figure and no worked total for a typical team, so the real cost only shows up at checkout or in a sales call.
- 3
Review profiles left to drift
G2 or Capterra listings with old screenshots, plans that no longer exist and replies to reviews that stopped years ago.
The honest bit. None of this rescues software that doesn't do the job. If trial users keep leaving at the same step, that's a product problem, and better marketing will only bring more people to the same exit.
Questions
people ask.
How do businesses choose software?
Mostly by checking what other users say, then testing the product on their own work. In Capterra's Australian survey, buyers whose purchase went well most often used user reviews and review and comparison sites.
Why do businesses regret software purchases?
Usually because the switch went badly, not because a feature was missing. Disappointed Australian buyers most often had data migration problems (41%), delays (40%) and budget overruns (36%).
Should a SaaS company offer a free trial or a demo?
A free trial suits products a buyer can get one real result from on their own, quickly. A demo suits products that need migration, integrations or sign-off from several people. Many companies offer both and say clearly which is for whom.
How long does it take a business to choose software?
Capterra found successful buyers usually finish choosing within three months, and searches longer than four months were less likely to succeed.
Can I ask only happy customers for reviews?
Be careful. The ACCC's guidance on online reviews warns that hiding negative reviews or only publishing positive ones can mislead. Ask customers in a consistent way, and reply to the critical ones.
Related
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going.
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